Caddy Installation Guide Installation Guide

Caddy is a free and open-source fast, multi-platform web server with automatic HTTPS. Written in Go, Caddy is a powerful web server that automatically obtains and renews SSL certificates, serving as a modern alternative to nginx or Apache with built-in HTTPS automation

Hardware Requirements:

CPU: 1 core minimum (2+ for high traffic)

RAM: 128MB minimum (512MB+ recommended)

Storage: 50MB for installation

Network: Internet access for automatic HTTPS

Operating System:

Linux: Any modern distribution (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Arch, Alpine, openSUSE)

macOS: 10.13+ (High Sierra or newer)

Windows: Windows 7+

FreeBSD: 11.0+

Network Requirements:

Port 80/443 (default Caddy port)

Port 2019 for admin API

Dependencies:

None (standalone binary)

System Access: root or sudo privileges required

This guide supports installation on:

RHEL 8/9 and derivatives (CentOS Stream, Rocky Linux, AlmaLinux)

Debian 11/12

Ubuntu 20.04/22.04/24.04 LTS

Arch Linux (rolling release)

Alpine Linux 3.18+

openSUSE Leap 15.5+ / Tumbleweed

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 15+

macOS 12+ (Monterey and later)

FreeBSD 13+

Windows 10/11/Server 2019+ (where applicable)

bash

# Install EPEL repository if needed
sudo dnf install -y epel-release

# Install Caddy
sudo dnf install -y caddy

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now caddy

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
caddy version

bash

# Update package index
sudo apt update

# Install Caddy
sudo apt install -y caddy

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now caddy

# Configure firewall
sudo ufw allow 80/443

# Verify installation
caddy version

bash

# Install Caddy
sudo pacman -S caddy

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now caddy

# Verify installation
caddy version

bash

# Install Caddy
apk add --no-cache caddy

# Enable and start service
rc-update add caddy default
rc-service caddy start

# Verify installation
caddy version

bash

# Install Caddy
sudo zypper install -y caddy

# Enable and start service
sudo systemctl enable --now caddy

# Configure firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Verify installation
caddy version

bash

# Using Homebrew
brew install caddy

# Start service
brew services start caddy

# Verify installation
caddy version

bash

# Using pkg
pkg install caddy

# Enable in rc.conf
echo 'caddy_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service caddy start

# Verify installation
caddy version

bash

# Using Chocolatey
choco install caddy

# Or using Scoop
scoop install caddy

# Verify installation
caddy version

bash

# Create configuration directory
sudo mkdir -p /etc/caddy

# Set up basic configuration
# Configuration details will vary based on your specific needs
# See official documentation for detailed configuration options

# Test configuration
caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

bash

# Enable service
sudo systemctl enable caddy

# Start service
sudo systemctl start caddy

# Stop service
sudo systemctl stop caddy

# Restart service
sudo systemctl restart caddy

# Check status
sudo systemctl status caddy

# View logs
sudo journalctl -u caddy -f

bash

# Enable service
rc-update add caddy default

# Start service
rc-service caddy start

# Stop service
rc-service caddy stop

# Restart service
rc-service caddy restart

# Check status
rc-service caddy status

bash

# Enable in /etc/rc.conf
echo 'caddy_enable="YES"' >> /etc/rc.conf

# Start service
service caddy start

# Stop service
service caddy stop

# Restart service
service caddy restart

# Check status
service caddy status

bash

# Using Homebrew services
brew services start caddy
brew services stop caddy
brew services restart caddy

# Check status
brew services list | grep caddy

powershell

# Start service
net start caddy

# Stop service
net stop caddy

# Using PowerShell
Start-Service caddy
Stop-Service caddy
Restart-Service caddy

# Check status
Get-Service caddy

See the official documentation for advanced configuration options including:

High availability setup

Performance tuning

Security hardening

Integration with other services

nginx

upstream caddy_backend {
    server 127.0.0.1:80/443;
}

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name caddy.example.com;
    return 301 https://$server_name$request_uri;
}

server {
    listen 443 ssl http2;
    server_name caddy.example.com;

    ssl_certificate /etc/ssl/certs/caddy.example.com.crt;
    ssl_certificate_key /etc/ssl/private/caddy.example.com.key;

    location / {
        proxy_pass http://caddy_backend;
        proxy_set_header Host $host;
        proxy_set_header X-Real-IP $remote_addr;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
        proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Proto $scheme;
    }
}

apache

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName caddy.example.com
    Redirect permanent / https://caddy.example.com/
</VirtualHost>

<VirtualHost *:443>
    ServerName caddy.example.com
    
    SSLEngine on
    SSLCertificateFile /etc/ssl/certs/caddy.example.com.crt
    SSLCertificateKeyFile /etc/ssl/private/caddy.example.com.key
    
    ProxyRequests Off
    ProxyPreserveHost On
    
    ProxyPass / http://127.0.0.1:80/443/
    ProxyPassReverse / http://127.0.0.1:80/443/
</VirtualHost>

haproxy

frontend caddy_frontend
    bind *:80
    bind *:443 ssl crt /etc/ssl/certs/caddy.pem
    redirect scheme https if !{ ssl_fc }
    default_backend caddy_backend

backend caddy_backend
    balance roundrobin
    server caddy1 127.0.0.1:80/443 check

bash

# Set appropriate permissions
sudo chown -R caddy:caddy /etc/caddy
sudo chmod 750 /etc/caddy

# Configure firewall rules
sudo firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=80/443/tcp
sudo firewall-cmd --reload

# Enable SELinux policies (if applicable)
sudo setsebool -P httpd_can_network_connect on

Not applicable

bash

# System tuning for Caddy
echo 'net.core.somaxconn = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
echo 'net.ipv4.tcp_max_syn_backlog = 65535' | sudo tee -a /etc/sysctl.conf
sudo sysctl -p

# Monitor performance
caddy list-modules

bash

# Basic monitoring
sudo systemctl status caddy
sudo journalctl -u caddy -f

# Set up health checks
curl -f http://localhost:80/health || exit 1

bash

#!/bin/bash
# Backup script
BACKUP_DIR="/backup/caddy"
DATE=$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S)

mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
tar -czf /backup/caddy-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/caddy /var/lib/caddy

# Restore procedure
# Stop service, restore files, restart service
sudo systemctl stop caddy
# Restore backed up files
sudo systemctl start caddy

1. Service won't start:

bash

# Check logs
sudo journalctl -u caddy -f
sudo tail -f /var/log/caddy/caddy.log

# Check configuration
caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

# Check permissions
ls -la /etc/caddy

2. Connection issues:

bash

# Check if service is listening
sudo ss -tlnp | grep 80/443

# Test connectivity
telnet localhost 80/443

# Check firewall
sudo firewall-cmd --list-all

3. Performance issues:

bash

# Check resource usage
top -p $(pgrep caddy)

# Check disk I/O
iotop -p $(pgrep caddy)

# Check network connections
ss -an | grep 80/443

yaml

# Docker Compose example
version: '3.8'
services:
  caddy:
    image: caddy:latest
    ports:
      - "80:80"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/etc/caddy
      - ./data:/var/lib/caddy
    restart: unless-stopped

Maintenance

bash

# RHEL/CentOS/Rocky/AlmaLinux
sudo dnf update caddy

# Debian/Ubuntu
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade caddy

# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -Syu caddy

# Alpine Linux
apk update && apk upgrade caddy

# openSUSE
sudo zypper update caddy

# FreeBSD
pkg update && pkg upgrade caddy

# Always backup before updates
tar -czf /backup/caddy-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz /etc/caddy /var/lib/caddy

# Restart after updates
sudo systemctl restart caddy

Regular Maintenance Tasks

bash

# Log rotation
sudo logrotate -f /etc/logrotate.d/caddy

# Clean old logs
find /var/log/caddy -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Check disk usage
du -sh /var/lib/caddy

# Verify configuration
caddy validate --config /etc/caddy/Caddyfile

# Test functionality
caddy list-modules

Official Documentation

GitHub Repository

Community Forum

Best Practices Guide

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Note: This guide is part of the HowToMgr collection. Always refer to official documentation for the most up-to-date information.

1. Prerequisites

2. Supported Operating Systems

3. Installation

RHEL/CentOS/Rocky Linux/AlmaLinux

Debian/Ubuntu

Arch Linux

Alpine Linux

openSUSE/SLES

macOS

FreeBSD

Windows

Initial Configuration

Basic Configuration

5. Service Management

systemd (RHEL, Debian, Ubuntu, Arch, openSUSE)

OpenRC (Alpine Linux)

rc.d (FreeBSD)

launchd (macOS)

Windows Service Manager

Advanced Configuration

Advanced Caddy Configuration

Reverse Proxy Setup

nginx Configuration

Apache Configuration

HAProxy Configuration

Security Configuration

Security Best Practices

Database Setup

Performance Optimization

8. Performance Tuning

Monitoring

Monitoring Setup

9. Backup and Restore

Backup Procedures

6. Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Integration Examples

Example Integration

Maintenance

Update Procedures

Regular Maintenance Tasks

Additional Resources

Related Web servers Guides

Apache HTTP Server Installation Guide

NGINX Installation Guide